Chapter 13 - SOPHIE’S SECRET
Sophie did not run.
She looked at Rourke with an expression that was almost pity.
“You still believe Charles,” she said.
“I believe what I saw.”
“You saw what they wanted you to see.”
Rourke kept the gun steady.
Ella moved between them.
“Explain.”
Rourke’s jaw tightened.
“The night Daniel died, Sophie gave him the pills.”
Ella looked at her cousin.
Sophie’s face went pale.
“Is that true?”
“Yes,” Sophie whispered.
“You said Vivian gave them to him.”
“Vivian gave me the bottle. Daniel wouldn’t take anything from her.”
Ella remembered Daniel’s final weeks. He had grown suspicious of everyone, including his mother.
But he trusted Sophie.
“You poisoned him.”
“I thought they were anxiety tablets.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I was eighteen!”
“So was Daniel.”
Sophie’s eyes filled with tears.
“Charles told Vivian they would calm him. Vivian begged me to make him take them. I gave him one the first night.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
Rourke’s voice was cold.
“Enough to kill him.”
Sophie turned toward him.
“You gave Charles the chemical.”
Rourke did not respond.
“You transported it from Evelyn’s clinic,” she continued. “You knew what it was.”
“I was told it was medication.”
“And you expect us to believe that?”
The accusation struck him with his own words.
Ella looked between them.
Every person had been given one piece of the crime.
Vivian gave Sophie the bottle.
Sophie gave Daniel the pills.
Rourke transported the poison.
Mark followed Daniel.
Evelyn administered the antidote too late.
Adrian failed to stop her.
Charles arranged the entire sequence so no single person understood enough to expose him.
“You all killed Daniel,” Ella said.
Sophie began crying silently.
Rourke lowered the gun slightly.
“Charles killed him,” he said.
“You helped.”
“Yes.”
The word carried no excuse.
Mark laughed weakly from the floor.
“You’re all so desperate to blame Dad.”
Ella turned toward him.
“Who else should we blame?”
Mark pushed himself against the wall.
“Daniel.”
Sophie shook her head.
“Stop.”
“He found the ledger and decided he could sell it.”
“That’s a lie.”
“He contacted people connected to Project Heir. He offered them evidence in exchange for protection.”
Ella studied her brother’s face.
“Who did he contact?”
“The man who financed the clinic.”
“My biological father?”
Mark smiled through the pain.
“Yes.”
“Name him.”
“Get me out of here.”
“Tell me his name.”
“Protection first.”
Rourke raised the gun again.
“I can make him talk.”
Ella stepped between them.
“No more violence.”
Rourke looked at her as though the idea were childish.
“Violence is the only language your family understands.”
“Then they’re going to learn another one.”
Sirens moved closer to the lake.
Ella heard officers shouting outside.
She retrieved the photographs from her hidden phone and sent them to three locations: the federal prosecutor, an investigative journalist, and a secure server Adrian did not know about.
The upload completed.
Then she sent a message to Charles.
I FOUND THE LEDGER.
A reply came immediately.
BRING IT TO ME OR YOUR MOTHER DIES.
Ella showed the message to Sophie.
“Where is Vivian?”
“I left her in the greenhouse.”
Rourke checked the security feed on his phone.
Most cameras had gone dark.
One still showed the ballroom.
Vivian stood alone on the stage.
A man behind her held a gun against her back.
He wore a federal agent’s jacket.
Michael Cole’s warning had been correct.
The arrests were compromised.
Ella looked at Rourke.
“Can you reach the ballroom through the tunnel?”
“Yes.”
“Then help me save her.”
“Why should I?”
“Because Charles plans to blame Daniel’s death on you.”
“He already has.”
“And after you die, he’ll blame everything else on you too.”
Rourke stared at the screen.
Ella continued.
“You spent years believing loyalty would protect you. It never did.”
His face revealed nothing, but his silence changed.
Mark shifted toward the fallen gun.
Sophie kicked it away.
Rourke looked at Ella.
“What is your plan?”
“We give Charles exactly what he wants.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
May you like
Ella looked toward Mark.
“An heir.”
